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AP source: Knicks to meet with Anthony in LA

Brian Mahoney, Associated Press
9:07 p.m. EDT July 3, 2014

In this March 5, 2014, file photo, New York Knicks' Carmelo Anthony, right, leaves the floor as he drives around Minnesota Timberwolves’ Dante Cunningham in NBA game in Minneapolis. A person with knowledge of the plans says the Knicks were to meet with Anthony on Thursday in Los Angeles. Anthony was in Los Angeles to meet with the Lakers, who are among the teams hoping to convince the All-Star forward to leave New York.
(Photo:
AP
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NEW YORK — The New York Knicks plan to meet with Carmelo Anthony on Thursday night in Los Angeles, a person with knowledge of the plans said.

Team President Phil Jackson and general manager Steve Mills were expected to be part of the meeting but not Madison Square Garden chairman James Dolan, the person told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because details of the meeting were to remain private.

The meeting was first reported by ESPN.

Anthony was in Los Angeles to meet with the Lakers, who are among the teams hoping to convince the All-Star forward to leave New York. Anthony already visited Chicago, Houston and Dallas this week.

The Knicks can offer him the largest contract, nearly $130 million over five years, though Jackson has said he hopes Anthony will take less than a maximum deal.

Other teams can offer Anthony slightly less than $100 million in a four-year deal, according to NBA rules.

Contracts can’t be signed until July 10, so Anthony is under no rush to make a decision. But the Knicks apparently wanted to make sure they got to make a final pitch after his cross-country free agency.

Jackson, Mills and new coach Derek Fisher had already met with Anthony last month in Los Angeles, where he informed them he would be terminating the final year of his contract and becoming a free agent.

He has never said he wants to leave the Knicks, who acquired him from Denver in a February 2011 trade. But the 30-year-old forward also said his priority is contending for championships, and the Knicks were just 37-45 last season, the first time in Anthony’s 11-year career that he missed the playoffs.